The invention relates to marine drives, and more particularly to a shift cable assembly for a marine drive.
Shift cable assemblies for marine drives typically include a shift actuating arm which is pivoted upon the movement of a remote control by a boat operator between forward, neutral and reverse positions, for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,618, incorporated herein by reference. The present invention arose during continuing development efforts involving the shift cable assembly shown in said patent.
The present invention provides a spring guide assembly having a bidirectional spring providing a slight load in neutral and helping to keep the shift lever in neutral. The spring guide assembly prevents a slow shift and assures and enhances a quick shift out of gear back to neutral. The spring guide assembly also eliminates some chatter of the dog clutch upon shifting into gear. Tho spring guide assembly takes some of the springiness out of the cable attached to the control lever, and takes up backlash and slop of both the cable to the control lever and the cable to the clutch assembly. The invention particularly enhances shifting performance.